Fundraising to buy Mum's home - is this right?

[cc12313]

Hi Everyone,

Hope you all are having a lovely day!

Just to give you a bit of backstory, My Mother, brother and I are living in a council home and have been for all our lives. My father and his Mother etc. lived here for 60 years before that. My Mother is coming up to retirement age and has nothing. She has put all her savings, my dad's life insurance and retirement fund into the house to fix the repairs the council wouldn't because of 'insufficient resources'.

I asked them to relinquish the house to her because of all the money she has put into it. They refused. They bleed her dry and are keep doing it as more problems are developing. I wish I could sue the council but a solicitor advised me against it as it takes a long time for those cases to come before a court and we would have to pay while it 's waiting and we may lose the house if we fail or go into debt.

My grandmother is awaiting to be diagnosed with dementia. We know she has they just need to rule out other possible causes but it means my Mam will have to retire sooner than expected and with no savings, we are struggling to pay the rent and then care for my grandmother as the council will not allow her to move in.

A Councillor, off the cuff, said they wouldn't allow it as she is an OAP and they would need to adapt the house i.e. build another room on as it could be considered over crowding otherwise and put in hand railings etc. for her which, seeing as how they haven't done any other easy repairs, they are not going to do this big job.

I've set up a gofundme fundraiser to buy the house and fix the repairs. I've contacted all the news outlets I could think of and wrote and sent so many letters and nothing.

I don't know what to do. I feel so stuck and desperate and I feel sick for even having the fundraiser up as this is the councils fault. Does anyone have advice on how I can get awareness to this fundraiser and if I'm doing the right thing? I haven't told my Mum I'm doing this as she is already stressed out with my grandmother.

Appreciate it’s difficult for you but there’s no way people will fund you to buy this house. Bonkers to think they should.

You need to find another solution and there are some good ideas on this thread.

I'm not big on these go fund me appeals but I doubt you will raise enough to buy the house outright.
Does right to buy exist there and would you be using the RTB di scount?

This is where you have to lobby all your local councillors hard, and your TDs. Not just one of them, all of them.

That said, I don’t understand either why you and your brother are still living there, let alone aren’t to raise a mortgage to buy the house. Council houses are sold to tenants at about 25% of market value. That your brother is a layabout isn’t a good enough excuse. Your family have had the benefit of council housing for decades, while Ireland is in the grips of a total housing crisis, be grateful! And stop the go fund me, no-one else should be sorting out your house

£4K for flood damage, I think someone might have be ripping you off!

What @Bartlet said ^

Could you rent somewhere else?

I don't understand how you are struggling to pay the rent - 3 working age adults in 1 house bringing in 3 salaries? You say your brother is useless, but that's not the council's fault or problem.

Did you contact the council each time a repair needed doing? They can take a few weeks to arrange fixing things, but in my experience they've always got it done eventually, especially with an emergency like a leak causing water to go through the floor.

And if the house needs walls and ceilings replacing why do you want to buy it? Who don't the 3 of you all put your earnings together to purchase somewhere jointly that isn't falling apart?

I highly doubt anyone is going to donate enough money for you to buy a whole house, and neither should they have to. If you want to buy a house you have to work your arse off saving for years.

Even if you have had to pay for some repairs to the house you have still presumably had 3 adults bringing in a salary, which should be more than enough to cover the rent on a council property?

OP have you posted before? Are you the poster with endless difficulties with useless brother and controlling mother who take all your salary and you've no life but won't leave? It all sounds very familiar.

If so, you wouldn't take any advice offered before ...

I'm in Ireland and this doesn't really make a lot of sense. Of course a Go Fund Me appeal is nonsense. You can't expect to fund raise that kind of money to buy a house, whether that's a decent gesture for your mother or not. When people want to purchase properties, they need to get a mortgage, and sadly, that's not always an option.

I find the repairs situation very odd. You're also using terminology not used generally in Ireland (though I appreciate that may be in order to make it clearer to a more UK-based audience). Usually we would talk about local authority housing, but the advice is the same - repairs to be referred to the local authority, not done by the tenant.

There are schemes for buying local authority houses, but it's usually done over time in terms of entering into an agreement where you over time pay towards house ownership. I could be wrong but what you are suggesting regarding buying the house (however you got the money) sounds very implausible.

You need to contact the local authority. You also need to move out. As said many times before. Live your own life.

So you're living with your useless brother and about-to-retire mother in a neglected house?
Have you considered leaving home and making your own life and then seeing how much help you can give them from a place of being your own person?
Because if you go down the path you seem to want to go down, that could be it; this will be your life. Is that your plan OP?

How are you going to manage the repairs when you own the house?
Do you not have house insurance that you could have used to pay for the leak?
The council surely have a responsibility to maintain the house, dp works for our local council and I'm sure that they have to do it, it's their property, unless it's different in Ireland?

How much money has your Mum invested in this property? Dads life insurance, retirement fund, savings ... sounds like a hell of a lot. Plus the £4K loan you took out for the bathroom. I certainly wouldn't donate to a gofundme if I knew these facts about the cause.

How old are you and your brother? Could one of you move out so Gran can move in? Have you enquired about housing benefit? Other benefits you might be entitled to? Have you got a firm figure from the council to buy the property? Have you looked at alternative housing options?

@Cornish2 we looked into that previously but people in the general vicinity we're coming from 1-2 bedrooms places and we're looking for small properties. It also doesn't help with the housing crisis here which makes me feel lucky to have our place even if it is a money pit.

@Bartlet You are completely right. On the outside we should be able to do this but we simply can't. I should apologies for my previous comments. What I mean by he is a layabout means he doesn't contribute towards the repairs needed. He does help with the rent but like my Mother and I, he is on a small wage.

We met with the housing loans person in the council and tried to qualify to purchase the home as joint tenants but our incomes still wouldn't be sufficient.

user1493494961 Unfortunately not. We only hired qualified people who were on the registered sites like when the heating and gas fire went out we used the bord gais website to find an installer. It's just the cost to fix these things these days unfortunately.

@Gazelda we looked into moving out to try that but the way the housing crisis is now in Ireland there is nothing available. The council still wouldn't allow her name to go down on the rent book as they would still need to adapt the house for her and they would lose rent with us moving out as they charge by percentage of your income so while our wages are small, her weekly pension is much smaller.

no offence but why should anyone contirbute to you buying a house? plenty of people cant afford to buy a house, they rent.
if your current house is not appropriate then you always have the option of private renting. You are 3 adults - you are responsible for yourselves and your housing situation.
If i was going to contribute to a house for someone I would choose someone with kids who husband had died or was escaping domestic violence and they were living in in a hostel or something

Part of me thinks this is a scam to try and get money from mumsnet

Why on earth would people contribute money to so three people of working age own a home outright?!

You still haven't answered why you think you'd be better off owning the house?

You'd still have to do all the repairs and according to the councillor even build a new extension. How are you going to afford that?

As far as I know, general maintenance issues such as a silicone seal around the bath would be your responsibility as the tenant, it is included in basic upkeep - maybe that's why the council said you had to replace the damage from the flooding - as basic maintenance of a silicone sealant around the shower tray hadn't been done?

What are the issues which are wrong with the house? Are you expecting the council to manage the basic upkeep or faults caused by lack of this?

Buying the property from the council will cost you more, surely the rent is managed? Do you and your brother pay lodge towards rent and bills?

I'd be really surprised if anyone will donate to buy a house for three capable adults. Another problem you might also find (I know it's the case here) is the right to take over the tenancy if anything happens to your mum. Here you can only do it once so from grandparent to parent but not again. I'd look into this very carefully.

@BrieAndChilli No offense taken. You're completely right.

I apologies if my wording came off as a scam in anyway. I was not trying to make it out like that at all and is the reason I left the link for the fundraiser out. I was asking just for advice on it and also if there was a way to get around the council without going down the expensive legal route.

I apologies again if my post caused any misunderstanding I just always hear Mumsnet people giving good advice on here so that's why I asked and because this website has parent's on it and as daughter I wanted to know if your child was doing something like this would you want them to or not? That's why I was asking if what I am doing is right.

Op, I realise you are struggling but you really need to go back to the council. Hound the housing maintenance team. Take photos and go to the office yourself - or send your brother. Haunt them. Be a nuisance. If they refuse to help, send photos to the local paper. Contact your MP. Kick up a huge fuss.

Stop spending money on a house that you don’t own.

There are three of you - all able bodied and earning. I’m on my own with a child to feed and I manage to pay the mortgage even when it’s really tight. Sorry, but just no!

Yes there is a housing crisis and part of the reason why! I'm sure loads of people will give you free money cis your brother is a lazy bastard. This is a joke.

I think if my daughter did this I would be a bit perplexed as to how she believed she would be able to fundraise 165 thousand euro to pay for a house outright for three adults with jobs.

The woman says that in the past 20 years, her and her family have paid out more than €50,000 on carrying out works on the house to make it livable. She would be willing to pay the €30,000 repair bill if Cork City Council were to sell her the home.

^Taken from the article you posted. Why on earth have you spent €50,000 on the house in the past 20 years??????

The article reads very poorly and will not get you any money.
I would not contribute to three adults buying a house.
I can only believe your leak was long term damage done as a result of you failing to upkeep the property.
We had a leak this month, I've suspected it was on the cards but that's another story, we used a can on varnish and a tube of sealant to fix, left it to dry out and it's fine. £4000 is crazy and why would a leak mean you'd new a new shower?

No what you're doing is not right. In fact it's completely ridiculous and makes me wonder if the three adults in the house have a brain between them. Stop expecting other people to throw good money after bad just to give you an inheritance.

If your mother is approaching retirement age then you and your brother are of working age so why aren't you paying rent? The council undertakes essential repairs and periodic upgrades but not furnishings, carpets, paint etc ... what exactly has she spent money on. No they don't need to give her the house unless she buys it because it belongs the council aka us.